Episode 108: "She Built the Test That Didn't Exist" — Denisa Kim on Couples' Microbiome Testing & Closing the Gap in Women's Health Diagnostics

What do you do when the healthcare system fails you — for three years straight? If you're Denisa Kim, you build the solution yourself. A chemical engineer turned biotech founder, Denisa spent years battling chronic recurring UTIs before discovering a glaring blind spot in women's health diagnostics: every at-home microbiome test on the market only tests one person. So she founded Anteros Bio, the first platform to test both partners and compare their genital urinary microbiomes side by side — because vaginal health, as it turns out, has never been just one person's biology. In this episode of The DNA of Things, Dr. Jeremy Koenig sits down with Denisa to unpack her journey from Facebook support groups to pitch stages, from bubble-mailer MVPs to utility patents, and from bootstrapped solo founder to actively fundraising with a growing clinical network. They go deep on the science of microbial compatibility, the racial and ethnic gaps in women's health data, why AI alone can't fix what under-researched data sets broke, and what it really costs a founder to protect her own vision when everyone else has a better idea for your company.🔑 What You'll Learn in This Episode🧫 The Partner Blind Spot in Microbiome Testing — Why every existing at-home test ignores half the equation, and how Anteros Bio is solving couples' shared vaginal and urinary health🩺 Chronic UTI & Recurrent Vaginal Infections — The real recurrence rates for UTIs, BV, and yeast infections that modern medicine quietly accepts — and why Denisa refuses to💡 From Pain Point to Pitch Stage — How Denisa went from DMing strangers in Facebook support groups to placing 2nd in a startup competition with nothing but an idea and a voice📦 Building an MVP on a Shoestring — Swabs in bubble mailers, DIY shipping labels, and what "ship before you're ready" actually looks like in biotech🧬 The Science of Microbial Compatibility — What it means to compare two microbiomes at the same time, and why shared health data between partners changes the diagnostic picture entirely🌍 The Gender & Ethnic Health Data Gap — Why women's health research is chronically underfunded, underrepresented, and why solutions built from one population's data don't translate across ethnicities🤖 AI + Microbiome Data: Limitations & Possibilities — Why machine learning can't outrun biased or incomplete datasets, and what truly inclusive sexual health tech needs to look like💸 Bootstrapping, Presale Memberships & Founder-Led Fundraising — Denisa's take on raising smart money vs. fast money, and why not all capital is worth taking🪞 The Founder as Brand — How building in public as a solo founder created audience pressure that nearly pulled her away from her own use case🎯 Protecting Your Vision — The cost of other people's playbooks, and the question every early-stage founder needs to ask: Who is this for — and who am I becoming by building it? LINKS:https://www.drjeremykoenig.com/https://www.instagram.com/drjeremykoenig/https://www.youtube.com/@drjeremykoenigHere's the link for this week's episode: https://drjeremykoenig.substack.com/.